Pietro Della Valle, a seventeenth century traveler, noted the following mortifications performed on the ninth day of the month of Muharram in Isfahan, Iran.
Many poor people would bury themselves in the most frequented streets of the city in dirt up to the mouth, covering the rest of their head with terracotta vases. They remained in this position throughout the day. Others would go completely naked and smear themselves black from head to foot.
These customs are not Islamic, but traditional of death and resurrection performed before a new year and widely seen throughout Asia.
Almost exactly the same custom of smearing oneself with mud or ashes and belief in the Water of life are found among the Chinese, Japanese and other people.
